St. Catherine's Combined Communities Group, 2002

Introduction
Background
Aims & Objectives
Planning the Building
Proposal for Bar Area
Cara Housing
Funding
Moyglare Garden Party
Staffing
Management
Activities
Impact on Community
Linkages and Networking
Present Situation
Key Achievements
Challenges to the Project
Catherine's: The Future
References

Introduction

The St. Catherine's Combined Communities Group is a community-based organisation representing residents and tenants associations in an area of the south west inner city. Since its establishment ten years ago, the St. Catherine's group has pursued a primary objective of developing a Community and Sports Facility on Marrowbone Lane in Dublin 8, with particular emphasis on supporting the needs of local young people. At the time of writing, the facility is under construction.

This report summarises the history and achievements of St. Catherine's Combined Communities Group, and the processes it has used to attain community development objectives in its ten years of operation.

Area Profile

In the middle of the last century, there had been a vibrant community in the south west inner city. Large employers such as the White Heather Laundry on Donore Avenue, Dubtax Sewing Factory, Player Wills on the South Circular Road, Guinness's brewery and Donnelly's on Cork Street had all employed a large amount of manual labour. If young people left school early, it was to go into jobs.

During the 1950s, low income families were moved from old tenement buildings in the Liberties into newly-built Local Authority flat complexes.

Over decades the area went into decay, with job losses and gradual physical neglect and, during the 1980s and 1990s, a severe heroin problem emerged.

When St. Catherine's Combined Communities Group was first established in the early 1990s, it was primarily as a local response to the drugs crisis in the south west inner city.

By this time the locality experienced multiple forms of disadvantage, ranging from early school-leaving to anti-social behaviour. Only a negligible percentage of students progressed to third level education and there was a marked dearth of recreational facilities and amenities for the community at large. Unemployment was estimated to be as high at 80 per cent in some local flat complexes when the group was first established. The catchment area of St. Catherine's has a high concentration of Local Authority housing with over two thousand flats within a mile radius of the St. Catherine's base.

Background to St. Catherine's

In an early report, the united voice of the St. Catherine's group stated:

The area we represent has experienced a decade of devastation resulting from the combination of drug addiction, inner city decay and poor housing, unemployment, vandalism and the escalation of petty crime and anti-social behaviour. We came together to consider a plan of action to reverse this tide of decline in living conditions.

Figure 1 St Catherine's catchment area in Dublin 8 and location of Sports Complex / Foyer site on Marrowbone lane.

Residents and tenants associations began to work together to combat drug pushing and establish supports for young people from the locality. Their main focus was on developing options for youth, in order to prevent them from becoming involved in chronic opiate abuse.

Groups that initially came together to form St. Catherine's represented communities of Vicar Street, Michael Mallon House, Wilson Terrace, Pimlico, School Street, Thomas Court Bawn, Seagull House, Dolphin House, Fatima Mansions, St. Teresa's Gardens and Marrowbone Lane Flats.

Aims & Objectives

A 1992 report by St. Catherine's listed some of their aims as tackling problems such as vandalism, drug misuse, housing, and unemployment.

Given the overall problems facing youth today, lack of facilities we feel, are a major factor in the high rise of juvenile crime, drug abuse and vandalism. We need to be able to effectively help the young people who are referred to as the unattached We need to cater for their total need from birth through adolescence and to create a full support system to enable them to take their place responsibly in the community.

The report pointed out that millions of pounds had been invested in the urban area in physical infrastructure, including new private apartments, offices and roads, etc., but the people of the community by and large had not benefited. There were few resources available for community facilities or organisations.

Midway through 1992 the group had decided that the main way in which it hoped to impact on the drugs problem for young people was to build a multi-purpose sports and recreational facility that could be used by the local community.

The main task was fact finding, each area researching their own special needs and then combining them. Having done this it became clear to us that a Community and Sports Complex should be established as a matter or urgency. It was then agreed by the Committee that this would be would major objective. (Report July 1992)

The development of the centre, they pointed out, would also increase employment opportunities in the area through staffing and construction of the facility, as well as regenerating that part of the city through transforming a derelict site of 4,500 square metres into a functional community building. Thus the whole package on offer would bring multiple benefits to the area.

A booklet produced in the early days, entitled Our Hope, underscored the links between poverty and drug misuse, and described how the centre would act as a catalyst for social change in the area.

What do we hope for when our old building has been transformed? It will house amenities for every age group from the infants to the old folks bingo. But its main thrust is to give our youth leaving school and not yet drug addicted, an alternative to the boredom that is the ingredient of their lives if they want to avoid the drug pushers - and so many of them do In most places young people have what it takes to make for normal living - all the way up to a choice of career. In the Inner City we have nothing.

Over the years the St. Catherine's group has developed into a multi-faceted project, providing a range of activities such as capacity building, acting as sponsor for a Community Employment scheme, and - perhaps its foremost achievement - successfully instigating the development of a multi-million pound sports facility and residential complex for young people.

Planning the Building

One of the sites originally proposed was a derelict site on Allingham Street. Although Dublin Corporation had considered allocating it to St. Catherine's, they also had plans to sell the site to Nabco, the National Association of Building Cooperatives, a voluntary housing body. A second option was the St. Catherine's Church on Thomas Street, but this was considered by the community group to be too small a premises for their needs.

By November 1992, however, the group had identified the former Wills factory on Marrowbone Lane at a potential site.

The building, owned by Dublin City Corporation, had been lying empty for many years and had been considerably vandalised but professional inspection showed it to be still structurally sound. Its dimensions and layout suited it perfectly to the proposed project.

The derelict building was a local landmark in the area and on a site of significant historical heritage for the community. Prior to being a cigarette manufacturing factory, the building had been Jack Touhey's sewing factory. It had in its day been a major source of employment for the community of the south west inner city, employing women in particular. Many women from as young at fourteen or fifteen years of age would have started work there in the 1950s.

Following representations by the St. Catherine's group in February 1993, the Planning and Development committee of Dublin Corporation agreed to allocate the Wills factory to the group for the purpose of developing a Community and Sports complex. It was understood that the building would be leased to St. Catherine's for a 99 year period for a nominal amount.

Members of St. Catherine's were overjoyed with the news, and started to plan how they would generate funding to enable its renovation and conversion into a state-of-the-art community and sports facility. A brochure was produced that outlined the aims of the group and invited people and organisations to contribute towards the development of the community facility.

The St. Catherine's group then began to seek political support, and met with several politicians, many of whom they felt did not take them seriously because of the scale of their ambition.

However, their perseverance paid off, and then Taoiseach Albert Reynolds officially launched the project on 19 May 1994 at an event in the Guinness Reception Centre in Dublin 8, where he announced a grant of 25,000 from the Department of Social Welfare.

Business Plan

In order to secure the government funding, it was necessary to develop a business plan for the centre. In March 1993, Architects Anthony M. Neill were appointed to draw up initial sketch plans for the conversion of the building, while a feasibility study for the community and sports complex was prepared by Gar Holohan, of Holohan Leisure.

Research for the feasibility study started in the summer of 1994, with the overall feasibility study being completed in April 1995. Gar Houlihan offered to do the feasibility study free of charge, while a FÁS grant of 2,000 was used to cover expenses incurred during the research.

Part of the research for the facility included visits by members of St. Catherine's to other sports complexes.

Planning the Building ctd.

In 1995 two meetings were held with officials in the Sports Section of the Department of Education who were preparing and evaluation report for the Minister for Finance, then Ruairi Quinn TD The report suggested that the development of the facility should be carried out on a phased basis given the magnitude of capital funding required.

One million pounds had been allocated through lottery funding and the Department of Tourism and Sports.

St. Catherine's was later to recognise that this decision to phase the development represented a major set-back and delayed the project considerably, as it meant that changes had to be made to architect's plans and feasibility study.

The first phase entailed putting in place the main sports hall and related accommodation such as changing rooms, gymnasium, weights room, snooker room, etc.

Project architects Jimmy O'Connor of Arthur Gibney and Partners prepared outline drawings for phase one and a cost plan was drawn up by the quantity surveyor, Norman Craig of Patterson, Kempster, Shortall.

On 28 April 1995 St. Catherine's met with Minister for Finance Ruairi Quinn TD to present the feasibility study:

The input of the Minister at the meeting was positive and he commended the St. Catherine's Group for its work in bringing the project to this stage and expressed a clear interest in seeing it completed. At the same time he stated that no clear mechanism existed for drawing down capital funding of the magnitude of 3 million pounds for a project of this character. He undertook however to have his Department investigate what could be done to progress the matter.

In October 1995 St. Catherine's met with Liz McManus TD, Minister for Housing and Urban Renewal, to investigate the possibility of obtaining some funding for the community and sports facility under the Urban and Village Renewal sub-pro-gramme of the Local Urban and Rural Development Operational Programme. However, the meeting was not fruitful as no funding was forthcoming from this source.

In a progress report prepared for the AGM in the same year, it was stated:

In the last three years the Group has succeeded in advancing a major project a very long way, has maintained a high media profile of it, and has secured a tremendous amount of goodwill towards it in many circles. While there will without doubt be many more obstacles to overcome the impetus which has been generated should serve to see the Project through to a successful conclusion.

In July 1996 a delegation from St. Catherine's again met with Minister Ruairi Quinn. St. Catherine's representatives felt that the meeting was very positive, having obtained an indication from the Minister that the government was prepared to make capital funding available for the refurbishment.

By this time, the group had agreed to develop the sports hall on a cleared site, because the cost of renovating was too high. This was to involve the demolition of part of the Wills factory, leaving over 2,000 square metres intact for renovation.

The St. Catherine's Group agreed to the proposal to develop a sports hall on a cleared site. The construction of this facility however did not require the demolition of the entire Wills factory and the Group proposed to proceed on the basis of taking down a section of the building away from Marrowbone Lane to facilitate it. This would leave the most important section of the building (over 2,000 sq meters) intact and available for development as a community facility to complement the Sports Hall on a phased basis.

In April 1997 the group made a submission to the South Inner City Drugs Task Force seeking support for renovations of the five floor tower section of the former Wills factory as phase 2 of its development of a multi-purpose community and sports complex. This ambition clearly tied in with the objectives of the local Drugs Task Force because of its emphasis on helping young people to escape drug misuse through the provision of diversionary activities.

The submission outlined the following criteria:

Gap in service provision
Added value - the centre would integrate with and complement existing investment
Partnership - with local authority and relevant government departments
Consistency with Dublin Inner City Partnership area action plan

The submission was successful and a grant of *** was allocated towards the development by the Drugs Task Force.

Foyer Facility

In 1997 a new idea for the development emerged, which was to incorporate foyer accommodation for young people within the community and sports complex.

Foyers are operated in the UK and Europe, where they provide young adults with necessary accommodation and supports such as training.

A Foyer essentially provides safe, secure accommodation, life skills development, employment training and opportunities for young people between the ages of 18 and 25. Its purpose essentially is to assist young people [to] successfully make the transition from home to independent working life.

Following a site visit in September 1997, Dublin Corporation expressed an interest in supporting the St. Catherine's proposal, but also saw it as an opportunity to develop foyer style accommodation. They had a preference for demolition and rebuilding, although St. Catherine's wanted to refurbish the existing building.

Following a tendering process in which both Cara Housing and Focus Ireland submitted plans, Cara was selected to pursue the development of the foyer.

Essentially what this meant was that the Corporation was willing to part-fund the building on condition that it incorporated a social housing element for young people, to be managed by Cara Housing.

St. Catherine's Combined agreed to consider the proposal and met with an architect from Cara to assess the suitability of the factory for conversion to a foyer. It was proposed that the 1 million secured by St. Catherine's be used to develop half the factory as a community and sports complex and the other half of the building for accommodation and training for young people, entailing an overall investment of 3 million.

Seeing it as a way forward for their own proposal, the management committee took a decision to proceed with the dual development, although they were less than happy with what they perceived to be the conditionality of the funding from Dublin Corporation.

While St. Catherine's welcomed the commitment of Dublin Corporation to the project, they felt they were being given funding on condition that they modified their scheme. They were displeased at having to change from the original project architects, Arthur Gibney and Partners, when the Cara element was introduced. A third upset for the group was to find out that Cara Housing did not in fact manage foyers in the UK, rather their experience had been in building such premises.

St. Catherine's representatives visited foyer projects in London in January 1998 and were impressed with the work being done there. However, the visit raised some issues, since the foyers they visited catered for young homeless people, and providing accommodation for this target group was not an objective of the overall St. Catherine's development.

While appreciating the excellent work that CARA is engaged in London in providing social housing we were not filled with confidence in their ability to successfully deliver and operate this project in Dublin. We were surprised to discover that they have no background in managing Foyers in London as this was our understanding.We were not sure whether CARA are simply attempting to relocate a model operating in London to Dublin or whether they have done the specific groundwork necessary in Dublin researching the housing/training needs etc.

Funding

Fund-raising for the development of the centre was a slow and tedious process, and those involved had to use their creativity. A fund-raising committee was established, comprising Sr. Marie Joseph, Mrs. Ita Mulvin, Mr. Noel Windle, and Mrs. Margaret Ryan. A range of agencies and groups were approached to see if they could assist. Ruairi Quinn TD, then Minister for Finance, initially estimated that the refurbishment works could cost between 1.5 million to 2 million.

Dr. Michael Woods TD, Minister of Social Welfare made a contribution of 20,000 from the Department to kick-start the project. John O'Gorman and Martin Kelly of FÁS visited the Marrowbone Lane site and confirmed that FÁS would be interested in supporting the conversion of the building.

Finbarr Flood, Managing Director of Guinness's brewers, presented a cheque for 10,000 on behalf of the company towards the proposed Community and Sports complex in 1994. The Irish Sisters of Charity donated 10,000 and the Electricity Supply Board donated 3,000.

The group conducted a 10 raffle in 1994 with a top prize of 1,000. Draws took place on Saturdays in the Lamp Lighter pub in the Coombe, Dublin 8.

In beginning of 1995, St. Catherine's identified the Dublin Inner City Partnership as a potential source of salary support for the position of Project Coordinator. A section of the Partnership's action plan specifically mentioned its intention to support a range of available buildings with the potential for re-development as local community centres. The Partnership provided support for a development worker to be employed to co-ordinate and direct the project over a number of years, with part-funding from FÁS Community Employment (Innovative Projects). In June 2001 DICP took over funding the entire co-ordination costs.

In January 1995 the group staged a sale and auction of Children's Art in the Guinness Hops Store. Pictures were painted by children from local primary schools and reflected community life in the area. About 53 pictures were sold, raising over 3,000 towards the community centre.

A 10 kilometre Road Race was held on 5 May 1995 to raise money. The race started at Francis Street at 7 p.m. and the route followed Thomas Street, James's Street, Mount Brown, and Old Kilmainham, finishing up on Meath Street. This race was held annually thereafter.

On Sunday 30 July, 1995, a Garden Party was held in Moyglare Stud Farm in Kildare. Fifteen hundred people participated in the event that included a tour of the farm by mini-bus, garden and flower show, lunch, and music by the Guinness Jazz Band and the Maynooth Brass Band. The event took place between two and six in the afternoon, and tickets cost 20 each.

Great support was provided in organising the event by the St. Catherine's CE Team, based in the Pimlico office, under the direction of supervisor Esther O'Hanlon. Apart from providing the manpower for stewarding, childminding, etc. on the day the CE team also provided valuable administrative support, sold tickets to local businesses, and handled the Press and Public Relations aspects of the event. They also worked to produce a video on the Community & Sports Centre Project which was shown on the day.

By all accounts, the Garden party was a great success, and it was estimated that they made 14,000 from the event. One drawback to the occasion, however, was the fact that Sister Mary Joseph from the fund-raising committee fell and fractured her shoulder on the day.

Sr. Marie Joseph brought great energy to the fundraising committee throughout the ten year period and one of the committee members later fondly recalled:

Only for her [Sr. Marie Joseph] involvement, I'm not saying we wouldn't have achieved our goal, but it certainly opened a lot of doors for us. She was persistent and brought professionalism to the group. She kept faith in the group to complete the project.

A 5-aside football tournament was held on 14-20 August 1995. Over 280 local children participated in teams with age categories from Under 6 to Under 14. Senator Michael Mulcahy sponsored and presented 70 trophies to the finalists on the following Sunday.

Later that year, a Christmas Variety Show was staged in the Rupert Guinness Hall with proceeds going to the Community and Sports Centre project. A Sale of Work took place in the Little Flower Hall on Meath Street on 16 December 1995.

Windsor Motors generously donated a Nissan Micra which was raffled, the draw taking place on 11 July 1996. The car was on display in Crumlin Shopping Centre between 4-19 September 1995 and after only two weeks 1,400 tickets were sold.

During 1996 the group secured a 1 million commitment from government for the sports hall, but developments continued to be slow.

In 1997 then Minister for Education Niamh Bhreathnack TD announced a total grant of 1 million under the Department of Education's Major Sports Facilities Scheme. That provision included an amount of 200,000 which was specifically allocated in the 1997 budget.

Player Wills sponsored tee-shirts and track suits for football, featuring the St. Catherine's logo on the front and the Players logo on the back. They aimed to sell adults tee-shirts for 2 and children's for 1.50, to be worn as part of a uniform at events such as football.

Funding Sources

Dept of Social Welfare 20,000
Dept of Social Welfare 25,000
Irish Government 1 million
Drugs Task Force >300,000
Dublin Inner City Partnership (Project Coordinator salary support)
FÁS Community Employment 1,050,000
(30 CE workers for 6 yrs and 15 CE workers for 2 years at 5,000 per annum.
Whole-time Jobs Initiative
Local fund-raising activities 109,000
Dept of Tourism, Sports & Recreation (Lottery funds) 1 million
Dublin Corporation
Dept of Environment
Young People's Facilities & Services 2001 3 or 4 million
The total cost of the project was 12.864,989
The Sports Complex element costed 5,379,075, while the Foyer element costed 6,128,725 plus VAT of 1.5 million.

Much of the group's own fund-raising activities were organised with the support and guidance of Sr. Marie Joseph of the Daughters of Charity.

With the particular assistance of Sr. Marie Joseph of Dolphin House an influential group of Trustees has, over time, been established for the Project and this group represents a particularly valuable asset to St. Catherine's. The Trustees have met twice in the last year to review progress on the Project and remain committed to providing whatever assistance they can.

(Draft Progress Report, 1995) Both staff and scheme workers organised fundraising activities, which typically included:

Annual 5-a-side football competition for young people
Sunday afternoon Kiddies disco
Sale and auction of children's art in the Guinness Hop Store
Race night in the Brewery Bar
Two pub quizzes
Halloween party in Mother Redcaps
10 Kilometer road race (annual for a number of years)
Local Variety Show in the Rupert Guinness Hall that involves over 150 children
Three major 10-week raffles
Bag packing in Crumlin Shopping Centre
Car auction
Moyglare Garden Party

An indicator of the goodwill towards the project in the community was the fact that crystal prizes from the 10 kilometre race was handed back to the project by the winners, so that they could be raffled to raise even more money for the project.

Staffing

When the group initially set up their activities were carried out by a voluntary management committee, comprised of representatives of the various local residents and tenants groups affiliated to St. Catherine's. Meeting often took place in the evenings, which meant that committee members gave up their free time to progress an issue about which they felt strongly.

In March 1994 St. Catherine's was able to employ a full-time Project Coordinator to oversee the development of the centre. This was possible through financial assistance from Dublin Inner City Partnership and FÁS Community Employment (Special Initiative).

Three months later, a Community Employment scheme commenced operating from the premises at 63 Pimlico. Fifteen workers were initially employed in areas of office administration, and organisation of sports, cultural and fund-raising events.

Staffing continued

Minutes from a 1994 meeting recorded that CE staff attended telephone skills training in the Connolly Information Centre and that they also completed typing, literacy, and English.

Community Employment in inner city Dublin was for many projects a double-edged sword, on the one hand providing much needed staff, but on the other, bringing with it problems of dependency on schemes and staff retention. Scheme sponsors often had to contend with workers who had little experience of the work environment.

In May 1995 the St. Catherine's newsletter published an article on a recent government decision to introduce cutbacks to the Community Employment Programme.

All schemes in operation in the area at the moment are being told to reduce their workforce to 11 people irrespective of the numbers currently employed and the range of services they are providing. Workers currently employed on schemes are not being permitted extensions for a second year while new schemes, though being approved, are not being given start dates.(1995 report)

The Fountain Resource Group, another local community project, organised a public meeting to oppose the cutbacks and a mass picket of Dáil Eireann took place on 10 May 1995. Centres were closed for the day of action.

Extra CE positions were allocated to St. Catherine's in June 1995. The ten additional workers were employed running a youth club in Fatima Mansions while the remaining fifteen were based in the office in Pimlico. An Assistant Supervisor was recruited.

CE staff undertook courses ranging from bookkeeping, computer training, childcare, communications, cookery, CV preparation, drugs and HIV awareness, English Junior Cert, Driving lessons, Flower Arrangement, Irish language, Literacy, Mathematics, Office Administration, Supervisory Management, Team Building Skills, Typing and Youth Leadership.

The CE workers were local people who had been long-term unemployed, and many were lone parents. St. Catherine's offered them an avenue of progression.

St. Catherine's acted as sponsor body but seconded some workers to other local projects. Affiliated residents groups ran youth clubs, summer projects, activities for senior citizens and worked with Dublin Corporation regarding maintenance, allocations and refurbishment.

At its height, there were over 90 people employed on CE projects sponsored by the St. Catherine's group and affiliated residents associations.

When SWICN, the local area network for Dublin 8, successfully bid to be a managing agent for fifty full-time jobs under the Whole-time Jobs Initiative, eleven positions were allocated to residents associations linked to St. Catherine's group.

There are presently three full-time staff members who provide the backbone of the organisation; Seamus Ratigan (CE Supervisor), Andrew O'Connell (Project Coordinator) and Marie O'Connor (Assistant Supervisor). Seventeen staff are now working under Community Employment conditions, in areas such as office work, schools, and the Cork Street youth project.

The Group is committed to the concept of local labour, and has influenced local labour clauses in the construction of the facility:

Since the area is suffering more than most from very high levels of unemployment it is proposed to recruit from the local people the management and staff to run the centre. One of the criteria in the tendering process for the construction of the project will be the degree to which local labour and sub-contractors can be employed on the project. (1992 report)

There was a stipulation of 20 per cent local labour in the construction of the centre. About six locals from a workforce of fifty were placed in jobs, some through the Enterprise Officer in Dublin Corporation, through St. Catherine's or the Inner City Employment Service delivered by the Connolly Information Centre. In addition, three young people from the area are receiving apprenticeships.

Range of Activities

All the while the proposal for the Sports Facility was being developed, the St. Catherine's group undertook a range of complementary activities and fund-raising events.

They staged Sunday discos for children starting in July 1994 in the Francis Street Parish Centre. Sponsors included Coca Cola, King Crisps, Richie Mints, C&C Soft Drinks, Dunnes Stores, Glen Dale, Elliots Cash & Carry, Crazy Prices, Dolphin Discs and MCA Records.

The St. Catherine's News newsletter was produced every two to three months and 2,500 copies were delivered free of charge door to door.

St. Catherine's Newsletter kept the community informed of developments in the area.

St. Catherine's helped organise trips to the Cavan Centre during 1998 and 1999. Sixty children went on each trip for adventure holidays and sports activities.

Pimlico is one of the few residential areas that has no community centre of its own and a proposal was put to St Catherine's for use of space to provide activities for young girls. It was proposed to run a Drugs Awareness course, painting and decorating, cutting and pasting, jewellery making, dressmaking, swimming, baking, dance & drama.

The main aim would be to start with an initial group of 12 in all the different areas and to have one night per week for two hours in each area. These hours would be supervised by 2 or 3 workers from the Community Employment Scheme.

A video, featuring the local community and outlining the group's objectives, was produced by staff for fund-raising purposes. Staff did the scriptwriting and voice overs. This was later shown at the Moyglare Garden Party fund-raiser.

When local women Karen Murtagh lost all her possessions in a house fire, the Community Employment staff of St. Catherine's volunteered to organise a fund-raiser. They were allowed by the project to use their time and resources to raise funds to support her.

Impact on Community

Over the years the activities of St. Catherine's have brought many benefits to the community it serves.

Firstly, local people employed on the project gained valuable work experience and participated in training opportunities.

Many of the workers employed on the scheme were single parents and it had the benefit of getting the participants out of the isolation of their flats and into a working environment where they were also able to avail of training in many areas. As all of the employees were local people the sponsorship of the scheme by the St. Catherine's Group also served to channel significant additional revenue into the area.

Working for St. Catherine's has been a great experience. It has given me so many opportunities to meet so many great people. It has also given me the chance to do something with my life. I have done so many different courses such as computers, driving lessons. All this has given me so much confidence. Janet Lee, CE scheme worker with St. Catherine's

The support provided by the umbrella St. Catherine's Group was undoubtedly instrumental in facilitating smaller residents associations to sponsor their own CE schemes, for example, in School Street and Thomas Court Bawn.

A report on the project stated:

The Resident and Tenant Associations represented on the St. Catherine's Group have over considerable time accumulated extensive experience in Community Work. They would, on an ongoing basis, liaise with the Corporation with regard to problems in their complexes, organise summer projects and other activities for the kids, organise social activities and outings for the elderly residents, produce local newsletters, etc. The Associations are over time developing and putting into place programmes aimed at improving the quality of life of the residents of their complexes.

The development of the centre meant that a part of the locality which had been derelict has been transformed into a valuable community resource.

When the building is completed, benefits will accrue to generations of young people who avail of opportunities with the Community and Sports Facility or the Foyer.

Being involved with St. Catherine's over the last 5 years has been great experience; working with St. Catherine's has given me a chance to better myself by learning many new skills. And with the help of St. Catherine's and the training received while working there, I was confident enough to apply for the full-time position of Assistant Supervisor, which is the job I'm still doing and enjoying at present. Maria OConnor, Assistant CE Supervisor with St. Catherine's

Linkages and Networking

Developing the St. Catherine's Centre necessitated working closely with existing structures and networks, including SWICN, the local Drugs Task Force, the Dublin Inner City Partnership and, more lately, the RAPID programme for the south west inner city area.

When the Drugs Task Force was first established, St Catherine's put their facilities at disposal of the Task Force, particularly before a Coordinator was assigned. The Development Officer of St. Catherine's was elected as chair of new Drugs Task Force in 1997.

St. Catherine's was directly involved in establishing the Community Drug Team in the Liberties area in 1997. Support was provided to the work of the South Inner City Treatment Services Group, a network that was engaged with the Eastern Health Board with regard to the provision of suitable localised treatment services. Agreement was reached with the EHB that three additional Community Drug Teams be established in the area, and a full-time coordinator was employed to progress this work.

Pilot services entailing the prescription of Methadone to a limited number of addicts residing in their complexes have been initiated in two of the areas affiliated to the St. Catherine's Group - Fatima Mansions and Dolphin House. Clients are being referred by the Rialto Community Drug Team who are providing counselling and back-up support.(1996 report)

St. Catherine's worked with the Dublin Inner City Partnership to support the delivery of its action plans, and likewise with the local area network SWICN which was established in 1994. St Catherine's Project Manager, then Andre Lyder, acted as Chair of the Network when it was initially set up and was involved in drafting a constitution for SWICN and researching the network's first action plan.

The group participated the Dublin Quartiers en Crise programme, a European Community initiative that addressed the problem of urban decay. The programme, which comprised public representatives, city officials and community development activists, had undertaken to produce an overall plan for the development of the south inner city, with the intention of attracting EU funding for specific projects outlined in it.

Links with Dublin Corporation were formalised when the local authority came on board with the Cara Housing proposal in 1997.

In 2001 and early 2002, the St. Catherine's Coordinator played an active role in the direction of and support for the RAPID Area Implementation Team, providing assistance to the RAPID coordinator to develop strategic aims and objectives of the south west inner city RAPID plan and helping to shape the direction of the Area Implementation Team.

Challenges to the Project

The most significant challenge to the project was obtaining the site and funding for the major development.

The chair of St. Catherine's noted that one of their biggest problems had been the stigma attached to Concerned Parents movement, with which St. Catherine's was closely linked. The controversy surrounding the Concerned Parents approach of direct action on 'drug pushers', including marches and evictions, meant that the St. Catherine's group had difficulty obtaining funding.

There were delays along the way that resulted in the facility taking much longer to complete than it should have done.

A lack of integration between statutory agencies impeded progress, for instance, even though the government had announced its commitment to the project, the local authority could not proceed with any work without express written permission. According to a 1997 AGM report :

Dublin Corporation stated, however, that they were not willing to take any steps to advance the project in the absence of written confirmation from the government as to when funding would be made available. Several months were then spent by the St. Catherine's Group corresponding to the relevant government departments, pursuing local TDs etc., in an attempt to obtain this letter for Dublin Corporation but to little avail.

The situation was further complication by the change of government and the fact that the sports portfolio was moved from the Department of Education to the Department of Tourism and Trade.

In May 1997 Dublin Corporation finally received written confirmation from the sports section of the Dept of Tourism and Trade that funding was available, giving a commitment of a half a million pounds each year for 1998 and 1999.

Satisfied with this confirmation, the Corporation agreed to proceed without further delay, stating also their preference for total demolition of the factory building and rebuilding on a cleared site. This in itself presented another dispute, since St. Catherine's group had been committed to a refurbishment of the existing building rather than a new build facility.

The tendering phase for construction of the centre took far longer than expected as the contractors who were short listed requested additional time to prepare their tenders. Tenders were received towards the end of 2000. Again, costs were rising.

With each delay in the project, the associated costs rose, from an initial estimate of only 2 million, to 7.37 million in a 1998 updated cost plan by PKS quantity surveyors, and finally to over eleven million.

St. Catherine's felt that the building could have been built for a quarter the amount of money, and for double the amount of space, that actually transpired.

The other main challenge to St. Catherine's achieving their objective was the fact that they felt they were made to compromise on the Foyer project, and that they had to concede to this in order for the Community and Sports Facility to be built.

Another disappointment was the fact that so many people who had been involved in the early days were no longer connected with the project as it neared completion, owing to the timescale it had involved. One committee member commented 'the original personalities won't be there when it's open.'

Present Situation

On 2 July 2001 the diggers finally moved into the site on Marrowbone Lane.

The finished centre will contain a full size indoor sports hall, gym, changing rooms, children's play area, cafe, rock climbing wall and function rooms.

The foyer project will house fifty people between the ages of 18 and 25, helping them to make the transition from home to independent living. It will include skills based training. Construction is being undertaken by Bowen Construction who have agreed to support the employment of local people while the work is in progress, which will take about eighteen months.

St. Catherine's: The Future

The Community & Sports Complex is due for completion in late 2002 or early 2003.

St. Catherine's will continue to provide technical assistance to affiliated groups. It also plans to develop the community's use of information technology, coinciding with the development of the Digital Hub in the south west inner city.

Concerned about the lack of young people involved in community work, St. Catherine's plans to develop options to support community leadership and will put in place a Neighbourhood Youth Project.

When completed the foyer and community/sports facility will be independent, but will have a joint premises committee to oversee the running of the building.

PRESS RELEASE - 12th April, 2001 New Concept Social Housing/ Sports Centre Development for the Liberties

In the Mansion House today the Rt. Hon. Lord Mayor Alderman Maurice Ahern hosted the launch by An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern TD of a major development project for the Liberties Coombe area. This unique development will comprise a managed social housing scheme for young single people combined with in house training, educational, and employment services integrated in one building with a multi-purpose community sports and leisure facility at Marrowbone Lane.

This project is a joint initiative of Dublin Corporation, Cara Housing Association and St. Catherine's Combined Communities Group. The City Manager John Fitzgerald said this project is a flagship investment in the urban regeneration of the south inner city currently being undertaken by Dublin Corporation under the Liberties Coombe Integrated Area Plan. As well as providing for social, community and recreational needs there will be a significant opportunity in this project to develop key linkages and new approaches for training and education with the new enterprise activities emerging within the Digital Media District being developed for the area.

Cara Housing Association chaired by Jan O'Sullivan TD., is an approved voluntary housing association which is bringing the benefit of it's experience in developing the foyer housing concept within the Irish community in the United Kingdom.The concept presents an integrated approach of accommodation, education and training to create the basis for independent living for young people,to acquire necessary skills within a three year tenure and then to move on. The Foyer will provide 50 single person apartments, lecture theatre, training rooms and cafe.

The sports centre providing for the wider community needs will be a top class facility including multi-purpose sports hall, gymnasium, ancillary meeting and function rooms and outdoor play area. The project cost at 11m approximately is being funded by the Department of the Environment and Local Government, the Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation, Dublin Corporation and St. Catherine's Combined Communities Group. Anticipated start of construction is July 2001 with completion within 18 months.

Conclusion

There is a strong sense among committee members that recognition should be given to the local people behind the project. They emphasise that it was the community sector that got the project up and running, and praise those who worked voluntarily alongside paid workers in St. Catherine's

The number of hours that community people devoted to developing this centre, holding meetings, fund-raising, lobbying, and participating in workshops, have never been quantified. They did not seek rewards for themselves, but rather sought to enhance the range of options for local young people to help them take positive control of their lives.

References

St. Catherine's Combined Communities Group, Chairperson's Report, AGM, 30th October, 1996.
Foyer Housing and Training Centre report, Brady and Mallalieu Architects, Cara Housing Association.
Proposal to Build a Community Centre and Sports Complex on the Site of the Former Wills Tobacco Factory on Marrowbone Lane (November 1992)
St. Catherine's Combined Progress report 2001.
Report July 1992. St. Catherine's Combined Communities Group
Draft report of the work of St. Catherine's Combined Communities Group. ADM 26th October 1995.
St. Catherine's Combined Communities Group. AGM Report 1997.
St. Catherine's Combined Communities Group. AGM Report 27th November 1998.
St. Catherine's Combined Communities Group. AGM Report 21 December 1999.
St. Catherine's Combined Communities Group. AGM Report 28 February 2001.
St. Catherine's Combined Communities Group. Report on London Trip to Assess Foyers. Jan 22-23 1998. Summary Conclusions.
Derry L. Smyth Feasibility Study for Bar Service in the St. Catherine's Development
Draft History: The St. Catherine's Combined Communities Group
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Email stcatscombined@iol.ie

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